Despite the fact that he'd prefer you not listen to it, [artist id="3188063"]Adam Lambert's[/artist] "Want" — a song he recorded sometime between 2005 and 2008 — will hit the iTunes Music Store on Tuesday (June 23). Its iTunes debut comes less than a week after it caused a commotion (and a whole lot of confusion) when it premiered on PerezHilton.com.

Late Friday, [article id="1614378"]Lambert released a statement about the song[/article], saying he started working on it "back in 2005, when I was a struggling artist," and that he didn't actually write the tune, but rather he was "hired as a studio singer to lend my vocals to tracks written by someone else."

"The work I did back then in no way reflects the music I am currently in the studio working on," Lambert's statement read. "I'm thrilled to be working with some of today's hottest songwriters and producers and can't wait for people to hear what my music really sounds like."

Of course, the folks at Hi Fi Recordings/ Wilshire Records, who are releasing "Want" and an entire album of Lambert recordings called On With the Show, disagree with that assessment. In a press release, they said "the vast majority of songs on the album were co-written by Lambert" and that they're not cashing in on his sudden "American Idol" fame by releasing the album, rather that it's the best material culled from a three-year relationship between the singer and Wilshire.

"Eight tracks of the forthcoming 11-song album were penned by [Lambert]. ... It is part of the more than two albums' worth of material he recorded with production and publishing company Wilshire Records over the course of their three-year relationship," the press release reads. "Before any other major entity, producer Malcolm Welsford and his independent label, Wilshire, recognized Lambert's musical gift and nurtured and supported his development. Both in the studio and as a writer, Adam honed his craft with the help of the producers, who also wholeheartedly encouraged Lambert to pursue his 'Idol' opportunity."

The press release ends with a quote from Hi Fi Recordings CEO John Hecker, who calls On With the Show "a prelude" to Lambert's RCA Records debut and says the label is simply releasing the album as "fans of Adam's work."

"It is a top priority to us that Adam shares in the success of this music. Hands down, 'Want' is one of the biggest radio smashes I have heard in a long time, and the album will contain more of the same," Hecker said. "We're thrilled to see that fans on message boards across the Internet overwhelmingly agree that the song is a hit with them. As a prelude to Adam's fall album, we're thrilled to be able to share the music of On With the Show, which Wilshire Records put so much time into developing with the artist."

A spokesperson for Lambert could not be reached for comment at press time.